Ella grabbed the glass vase with pink carnations and wispy baby's breath. Then she threw it Brian's direction with all her might. It slammed against the wall and shattered into a million pieces; just like her heart.
She purposely missed.
She didn't want to be accused of domestic violence. Matter of fact she had never done anything so violent in her entire life, but he had it coming.
"I can't marry you," Brian said with his hands in his coat pocket. His deep blue eyes refused to meet her hardened stare. He turned his head and a strand of his light brown hair fell over his eye.
"Get out," she said sternly pointing her tanned outstretched hand toward the door. Brian just stood there like a dopey jock not knowing what to do. What could he do, she thought? He'd just done his worst. Tears fell freely from her eyes, but her pure rage made them stop.
They were supposed to go out for drinks but instead he shows up on her doorstep and breaks up with her.
She rushed into her bedroom grabbed a black duffel bag and threw anything of his she could find inside it. After throwing in his razor and toothbrush, without wrapping them, she zipped the bag and chucked it toward him.
"There. Now go."
He stood against her doorframe still looking dopey then whispered, "the ring."
Ella nodded her head and a few tears escaped. It was a beautiful vintage Tiffany ring that once belonged to his grandmother. She pulled on the platinum marquise diamond but of course it wouldn't budge.
Stress sometimes made her fingers puffy.
Her face turned beet red from humiliation.
As if she wasn't humiliated enough. She ran into the kitchen and poured dish soap on her finger then ran back out. She pulled and twisted the thin band all the while still tolerating his presence. He smelled of Dior Sauvage. She had bought it for him on Valentines day. It had a warm musk scent with a hint of citrus. The clerk that helped her said it was like opening a bottle of Twilight magic.
She loved the smell. Another tear trickled from her eye.
He leaned against the doorframe, one hand still in his coat pocket. The other hand dangled and the thought of his hand never touching her chin again sent more tears flowing.
Finally, the ring budged and slipped off her finger. She wanted to throw it, like in the movies, far away so that he'd never find it again.
But she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
She grabbed his dangling hand and placed the ring tenderly inside it. He didn't speak he simply stared straight ahead as she slowly shut the door, closing him off with a click as the door snapped into place. Then she turned the lock. He was done, out of her life forever.
One minute she was engaged and the next dumped.
Ella leaned her back against the door as she thought about all the wonderful times they had.
No more picnics.
No more lunch dates.
No more candlelit dinners.
She sobbed and her stomach formed a knot.
****
Ella Sweet sat at the bar with her fists beneath her chin. "Give me another one and make it stronger," she said as she blew wisps of brown hair out of her eyes. She was wearing a bright yellow sundress and delicate white flat sandals.
Charlotte tried to force her to wear high heels and go out clubbing.
She twisted in her seat at the thought. She hated being uncomfortable, for what? Truth be told, she would rather be barefoot half the time, especially in her garden.
She was supposed to be celebrating her engagement. Brian had just proposed the week before.
"Give me a shot of hard liquor."
"You sure you want to do that sweetheart?"
She nodded and clanked her glass on the counter. Ella didn't care what the bartender thought. She didn't care what anyone thought. She was going to do her best to get as drunk as possible.
She hiccupped.
There was just one teeny weeny problem. Hard alcohol didn't agree with her. She preferred sipping wine and not too much.
But wine wasn't going to get her drunk fast.
She let out a long sigh and hoped by the end of the night she'd be lying in a gutter half dead and possibly being ripped apart by a pack of wild dogs. What else did she have left after being dumped by the man she thought was the love of her life. Her heart throbbed at the thought as a tiny tear escaped her eye. She wiped it away and caught a glimpse of a rare black Channel bag with gold buckle through her side vision.
"Oh Ella," Charlotte said as she tossed her long blonde locks aside. She took the seat beside Ella and patted her on the shoulder. "Guys are assholes, well most guys anyways." She winked a kohl smudged eye at the bartender.
She crossed one pin striped pant leg over the other and plopped her black purse on the counter. "Men are scoundrels, which is why I stay single."
Ella tossed her drink back like pro but instantly regretted it. Her stomach lurched. I think I need to go to the bathroom. She jumped up and ran as Charlotte followed close behind.
"Are you ok," Charlotte asked through the bathroom door. "You need me to hold your hair?"
Ella leaned over the toilet praying she wouldn't vomit. At least she had Charlotte, her best friend since kindergarten. When she wasn't traveling anyway.
Yep, she thought to herself, being dumped sucked.
She had thought Brian was a catch. At the ripe age of thirty she felt like it was never going to happen for her; the whole marriage thing. That was her last chance at happily ever after.
Love marriage and children, down the tubes.
Charlotte wrapped a slender arm around Ella as they exited the bathroom. "Let's get a booth you look like you could use a little something to eat.
Joe's Italian restaurant had been around forever. There were white tablecloths, long hanging curtains and dim lighting with dark leather booths in which couples could get cozy. It was a restaurant Ella's mom used to bring her to for every birthday. Ella would always order one of their famous burgers, crispy French fries and a large piece of their chocolate cake for dessert.
She squirmed against the leather booth, "You know the worst part is that he said the sex wasn't good enough. Now that I think of it, nothing I ever did was really good enough. He once said I needed to lose a few because I was too curvy and if I were to be his trophy wife, he wanted me healthier as in skinnier.
"Then he's insane and half blind," Charlotte ranted as she scooted into the booth. "What an asshole."
Ella drank water hoping she could stave off a hangover. "I've been starving myself for months thinking about our future wedding date. All he ever did was string me along, just enough to do his laundry and cook him dinners."
She flopped open a menu, scanned it, then slammed it shut. It felt as if a hammer was knocking on her brain. Too much alcohol and no food did that to her.
"Ella Sweet you really are a sweet person. Too Good for Brian."
They ordered chocolate cake and Ella imagined herself as an old spinster destined to end up in some senior center teaching flower arrangement classes. She'd been dumped, she supposed life must go on. It sucked, and her heart was broken but what killed her was the fact that her biological clock was ticking away and although she couldn't have children since the accident, she had dreamed of adopting. She had wasted two years of her life on Brian because he promised her marriage and family. That fairytale life had just been flushed down the freaking toilet.
"So does this cake look amazing or what?" Charlotte said.
Ella stared intently at three layers of chocolate slathered in a creamy rich ganache, topped with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. If that wasn't enough there was a gigantic strawberry with chocolate drizzled on the side. Most people in their small town by the sea called it Better than Sex Cake. She hadn't had a slice since before Brian. Anytime Ella considering ordering anything even remotely fattening he'd tell her, "You don't really need that do you Baby?"
He thought he was helping her.
She thought of him and all the crappy things he'd ever said to her as she shoved a mouthful in.
"Totally amazing, I think they should change the name to better than sex with Brian chocolate cake." She shot out the words sarcastically as she toyed at the cake with her fork. "You know, how on earth do you do it?" Her eyes locked on Charlottes as she clung to her fork.
"What do you mean?" Charlotte smiled like the cat that ate the canary as she swallowed a bite of cake and licked her lips.
"You get to travel for work, your beautiful, and single and you always seem so satisfied."
Ella's head drooped as her shoulders deflated all the while resisting the temptation to plop her face into the cake instead of eating it.
Part of her still wanted him back.
The other part wanted to slap his face silly.
"Satisfied?" Charlotte said, eyes rolling, as she mouthed another bite of cake. "Men are cheating lying dogs, in my opinion. That's the one thing I learned from my parent's divorce. My Dad's on his third girlfriend this year and they get younger and younger. It's disgusting." She licked chocolate off her first finger nonchalantly.
"Yeah but how do you find the time to date and you know," Ella tensed as she cupped her mouth and whispered as a waiter strutted by with someone's dinner in tow, "Sex."
"How do I get sex and stay single?" Charlotte blurted enjoying Ella's uncomfortably squirm. She dabbed her white napkin at the corners of her mouth. "All a woman needs these days is a good vibrator. A friend with benefits, And..," Charlotte licked her lips lowered her voice and growled, "an occasional hook up."
"What?" Ella's eyes popped open. "You mean a hook up. Like a hook-up. Like someone you don't know?" She shuddered at the thought.
"Of course, that's what I mean; all you need is a package of good condoms and the perfect encounter. Did I mention I'm a member of the mile-high club?" Charlotte giggled, then buffed her nails across her shoulder and tossed her blonde hair to the side.
"I can't do that," Ella gulped, her eyes even wider than before. She took a bite of the decadent cake and swallowed thinking whether it could be a substitute for sex and if the restaurant had a dessert club card, like buy one get one free.
She could never hook up.
She was responsible, sane Ella. Predictable Ella. That's what Brian called her.
Predictable Ella Sweet.
Sometimes she hated that her last name was Sweet. It was her mother' maiden name so she felt guilty for hating it. But people always expected her to be sweet.
And a pushover.
Brian called her too sweet, predictable, Ella.
Right after he told her he got drunk at his brother's bachelor party and got a blowjob from the stripper, which made him realize he needed a woman who was, well, not sweet and predictable like her. A tear ran down her cheek.
Must have been one hell of a blowjob.
"Hmm," Ella wolfed down the rest of her cake taking it under consideration. The idea of it began snowballing into a mission as she cast aside the idea of a dessert club card.
She didn't want to be predictable.
Matter of fact she needed a new mantra in her life. Anything Brian hated she would love and anything he thought her incapable of she would do! If she had to move a damn mountain she would. "You know, I think I'm going to do it. I'm going to hook up with the first hot guy I meet." An intoxicated grin crept across her face as she placed her fork down.
What she needed now was a man.